Bina heads to one of the doors on the ground floor, one that is obviously not the entrance to one of the flats. Stopping before it, she assumes a Hergoth formal greeting pose and intones a Song of Calling. The door opens a few seconds later, but only a crack.
"Bina?" says a soft, feminine voice.
"Yes, Gemma," she replies gently. "It's me. It's alright!"
It's hard to see the figure that emerges in the dark, but she takes Bina's hands and says, "Thank the Entity! But what of...oh..."
"It's alright!" says Bina reassuringly. "Your friend isn't hurt. We had to stun him. He wouldn't stop shooting at us!"
Betham steps forward with the limp form of the shooter over his shoulder. "We need to get him inside," he says flatly.
Gemma's only reply is a few anxious-sounding breaths.
"It's alright!" insists Bina. "No one's here to harm you! In fact, we need your help!"
Gemma's psy senses can be vaguely felt probing about the party, and then focusing on the three Yangae. The pulse of fear she lets off is very tangible.
"They're not your enemies," says Bina. "My soul speaks for them."
Gemma lets out another nervous-sounding breath before she lets the party in.
Once inside, she turns on a pocket light and leads the party to a room in the very heart of the building. The air inside is stuffy and reeks of dust, mold, incense, spiced oil, and the acrid smell of unwashed bodies. Gemma says something, and a larger light within the room comes on. Then the party can see the room and her clearly.
Perhaps she was attractive before, but now her face looks worn and gaunt. Her sullen eyes don't look at all well. She is dressed in casual clothing that is rumpled and stained. Her hair is an unwashed, uncombed mess.
The youngish Hergoth man sitting next to the light doesn't look much better.
"You brought them all in?" he asks with dull annoyance as Betham and Zeton ease the stunned form onto a more or less usable sofa.
"I trust Bina," replies Gemma.
"It's not Bina I'm worried about," retorts the man, "or any other except those three." He nods in the direction of Pru, Mey'Luskar, and Mon'Fargret. "Remember? Gol'br'in said that now no Yangae can be trusted! None! Tur'as unders...well, I see he doesn't at the moment. Bugs on glass! So much for his precious gun! Now you've put us all in danger!"
Stepping forward irritably, Mey'Luskar pops off her contacts and shows her real eyes. "There!" she snaps in Her-galad. "Satisfied?"
Gemma reacts with surprise, but the man is totally unperturbed. "Very well," he says impassively. "What about the other two?"
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After Zeton helps set Tur'as down, he quickly dries off his hands, fishes out his computer and begins using it. As he works, he politely moves to the back of the group so as not to get in the way of the conversation.
"You may want to be careful with that," warns Betham quietly. "Don't make these people jittery. The 'deep vine' can be an ugly thing, can't it Bina?" He throws her a glare.
Acknowledging his remark with naught but a brief glare of her own, Bina touches Gemma's hands again. "It's alright," she says. "He's making sure we're safe. You can trust him."
"How did you get off the vine, dear sister?" asks Gemma.
"Per'anai Mountain-Eye herself saved me from it," replies Bina, "and led me to the Path." She sighs and answers the question on Gemma's mind, "I didn't learn well enough, so I went off the Path. I have to find it again." Then she and Betham exchange glares again.
"Tell your tall friend not to bother," says the other Hergoth man dismissively. "It's just us up here. No one gives a flame what happens around here...except maybe the Yangs at that spookhouse by the cliff."
"Those are exactly the people I'm concerned about", replies Zeton without looking up from his pocket computer.
Mon'Fargret asks, "Has anything strange happened at that spookhouse in the last day or at least anything different?"
The Hergoth man suddenly shows something vaguely resembling emotion, namely surprise. His eyes, narrow slits till now, suddenly open to reveal their full, bloodshot glory as they level on Mon'Fargret.
"Wow," is all he says.
Still holding Bina's hands, Gemma says, "They're doing it again! Having one of their evil parties, or whatever they're doing! They always did it on the same day every month, but now...it's off schedule, and the vibes...they're worse this time!"
"Vibes?" asks Betham quizzically. "It's almost a kilometer away through rock and trees! How can you read it from here?"
"Can't you?" asks Gemma.
Betham pauses. "I feel something not quite right in the air, unfriendliness maybe, but nothing I'd call evil."
"It's easier to feel on the vine," says Bina softly.
"Well, just don't get any ideas about it!" snaps Betham. "How long were you on it, anyway?"
"It doesn't matter," replies Bina. "I broke with that life."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed," rails Betham, "you've just broken with the one that came after! With all that hurt you can't hide, so don't try, any chance of your longing for the old comfort?"
Bina releases Gemma's hands violently, her expression vehement. Her eyes flare visibly red. Then she takes a deep breath and calms herself. "Please...don't," she says.
"This is what many are worried about," says Betham more gently. Then he turns and strides away.
Ignoring the exchange between Bina and Betham, Zeton puts his pocket computer down and inquires in Her-Galad, "Wait, Gemma, what did you say? There's an 'evil party' happening right now?"
"This is not good. We have evidence that indicates the people in the Eye of Tan were killing people for sport, but now it seems they may have been doing so as a means of sacrificing lives to assist an evil power."
"We are searching for someone, her name is Adulie. Adulie asked us to find a member of her family, who we recently learned was killed... or sacrificed, most likely at the Eye of Tan. We were going to give Adulie the sad news, but she left before we could reach her. We fear she went off searching on her own and has been captured. My guess is the evil party you sense is part of their plan to sacrifice her as well."
"Please, we must hurry. You don't need to trust us, but if you delay us, the shadows that are slowly engulfing your world will soon take another soul and ours could be next."
Gemma, who was startled by the exchange and Bina's reaction, looks at Zeton with the same expression of surprise frozen on her face. Then she looks at the Hergoth man.
"The Eye!" she says.
He gestures affirmative. "The Eye. That must be it, then." He looks at Bina. "You are...were...of the Circle. Do you know what he's saying?"
Her face lowered, Bina gestures affirmative. "Yes. He's right."
"Gol'br'in!" says Gemma. "He'll know!"
"He warned of the danger," says the man, "but this changes things." He looks up at Zeton. "But why did you come here? Do you want Gol'br'in's help? But I don't know if he'll like the Yangs...unless you show him you know the Oneness..."
"Gemma, can I feel the party through you without help from the vine? Perhaps I can sense what you mean," Mon'Fargret replies.
"We are attempting to gain access to the Eye of Tan via a forgotten access point in the Farbett tunnels in order to rescue Adulie. We've all ready tangled with peopled poisoned by the Eye and we know they are very strong. A frontal approach would be very unwise."
"I don't know who Gol'br'in is, so no we were not looking for his help. However..." Zeton turns to Mon'Fargret and asks, "The Eye of Tan appears to be full of Kehlwok, maybe we need the assistance of The Cleaner, eh?"
Gemma gasps. "The tunnels? No! Not the tunnels! You don't want to go there!"
"Bad idea," agrees the man cooly. "You're obviously not invited. You won't be welcome there. There are only two ways into them from here, anyway. One is in the old warehouse, and you won't be welcome there, either. The other is in the house, and that's..."
"Gol'br'in!" puts in Gemma. "He's in the house...with his circle. He's..." Her expression changes. "The...Cleaner? What?"
"Can you answer his question, please?" asks Mey'Luskar with some embarrassment, pointing at Mon'Fargret.
"What?" says Gemma vacuously. "Oh. He said...me help him feel...without the vine?" Her brows furrow. "Can I do that? I mean, he..."
"He knows the Oneness," says the man. "Weird. But so is a Yang with Hergoth eyes...or a Hergoth with Yang skin and ears...or...what?"
"I'm half!" says Mey'Luskar. "Bina, you can do it, can't you?"
"Yes, but..." is all Bina says, avoiding eye contact.
"Well, let me try," says Gemma. "I mean, I...I don't think I've ever touch-linked with a Yang...gae before." She reaches out her hands and then quickly withdraws them. "I don't know...is it safe? I mean...do we...is he...um..."
Mey'Luskar reaches out as if to touch her hand and then jerks her own hand back as if it has been soiled. "Um," she says with distaste, "it's safe. He's...been around Hergoth. He knows."
Mon'Fargret has to stifle a gag when Gemma touches his hands. (She doesn't smell all that good, after all.)
[Damn unwashed hippies.]
[In case you don't check the main blog page regularly, there's a new picture, (I think it's Gemma), posted by Mr. MM. Seriously cool.]
Mon'Fargret suddenly breaks free of Gemma's touch. He looks around for a moment to get his bearings and tells the group, "We need to get moving. They appear to be in a hurry and they have someone I am pretty sure. I heard a cry for help. My sense tells me that this is part of the Eye. The question is how do we get there? We need to choose whether we are welcome or not."
He turns to Gemma, "Thank you for your help. I have a studio down in Artist's Square. You are always welcome there."
"Oh, you're an artist?" asks Gemma with a gleam in her eye.
Over on the sofa, the shooter stirs. "Bro," he moans. "Bad waves!"
"You're really trying to get to that spookhouse?" asks the man by the light.
"That's why they want the tunnels!" says Gemma edgily. "Duh!"
"Take them to the house, then," says the man. "Maybe they'll let them in. Maybe. Just don't take them to the warehouse."
"Just out of curiosity," says Betham, "how do you get water here?"
"We have water!" replies Gemma. "This place has its own well, and I guess the pump still works! All the rooms here still have water...if the plumbing is still good, that is..."
"Like, bummer..." moans the shooter on the sofa.
"Why do you want to know?" asks the guy by the light.
"Just curious," says Betham. "I just..."
"He just wants to know what you're doing with the baths," butts in Bina. "You won't hide it from him."
Gemma's eyes widen. "We're not hurting anyone here!"
"That depends on who you're selling it to," retorts Betham.
"You a cop?" asks the guy by the light.
"As much as she's a priestess," says Betham, nodding toward Bina. "I'm not badged or linked. But this is my area. Who do you sell it to?"
"We don't!" protests Gemma. "Please!"
"It's mostly your own supply?" asks Bina gently.
"I...I think most of it goes to keep the peace!" says Gemma.
"What do you mean?" asks Betham.
"They sellin' skrat to the Yangae punks?" wonders Pru. "Or pure root to the Blues?"
"No!" cries Gemma. "It doesn't go on the streets! It goes..."
"They want to go in the tunnels," says the guy by the light. "They can find out for themselves! Take them over there, Gemma. The sooner the better!"
"Okay," says Gemma. "Shall we go?"
"Yes, we should get going, but maybe we can take a minute to make sure everyone is ready and fully prepared for the journey. I'd like to make sure all my protective gear is on properly and all my equipment is easily accessible and ready to go."
[Granite will likewise prepare herself. For now, she's going to stick with the strange gun (Not sure if the original owner has noticed she has it yet...), even if it is a bit awkward for her. She'll holster her other sidearm, and keep her staff tied across her back.]
"Yes, we should probably get a move on." She jabs a tentacle at Nekshi, "My mistress is unusually quiet, which always happens when she get's cold."
(Sorry...I've been waiting for someone to post a comment promised in an e-mail received several days ago. I'll move on.)
Check September 3, 2010 8:25 AM (+17 hours)
Just like my family...nobody listens. ;)
It starts with... "Mon'Fargret suddenly breaks free of Gemma's touch."
[Just in case you interpreted my last comment as impatience with you, it most definitely was not. Granite is just anxious to be away from the psycho with the gun before he realizes he doesn't have his gun... I was also using that as an opportunity to poke a little fun at Seymour's absence... He'd have done it to me! :-) ]
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